Hundreds of sheep crossed the Thames on Sunday via a bridge in the heart of London, guided by Hollywood actor Damian Lewis who became a shepherd to perpetuate a century-old and “very British” tradition.
Since the Middle Ages, any person with the status of “free man” or “citizen” of the City, the business district of the capital, has been granted the right to cross his flock on a bridge spanning the Thames without paying tolls, to sell their sheep on the markets north of the river.
To revive this tradition and this medieval trade route, nearly a thousand of them crossed the Southwark Bridge with their animals, like every year for 15 years, at the Initiative of the Honorable Guild of Woolmen” founded in 1180.
Among them, British actor Damian Lewis, seen in the series “Homeland” and “Band of Brothers”, guided a handful of sheep during their crossing, wearing his grandfather’s wool coat for the occasion and a shepherd’s staff.
The 53-year-old actor, who himself holds this now symbolic status of free man”, associated in the past with the merchants and confederations of London, described this Day as “eccentric and very British”.
Several members of the actor’s family have held the office of “Lord Mayor of the City of London”, a title making its holder the promoter and spokesperson for businesses in the City’s business district.
This event should make it possible to raise funds for the Lord Mayor’s foundation, with a social vocation in the capital, as well as for that of the wool makers, who work to preserve this historic know-how.
